COMPETITION RULES (Revised August 2017)

01/08/2017

COMPETITION RULES (Revised August 2017)

1. General
Only paid up members of MID-CHESHIRE CAMERA CLUB (abbreviated to MCCC or ‘the club’) shall be eligible to enter any Competition.
There will be two main Competitions held through the season, although these may be varied by the Committee. The first will be the Photographer of the Year Monthly Open Competition (based on the aggregate results of those monthly competitions) and the second will be the Annual Competition(s) held in March and April. All trophies awarded to winners must be returned to the Competition Secretary when requested. The Competition Secretary will call for submission of competition entries. Dates and details of each competition, including Handing In (HI) dates, are published in the season’s Syllabus. Entries will not be accepted after that date. The Competition Secretary may:

Refuse any entry which does not conform to the rules of a competition

Withdraw entries equally from each entrant, if there are too many entries in a Monthly or Annual Competition for the running of that evening’s show

Exclude entries with a subject matter that, in his/her judgement, does not conform to the competition’s stated theme or section classification.

2. Requirements for ALL COMPETITION entries2.1 Prints
All prints must be mounted on a card no thicker than 4mm. The maximum size of the mount is 50cm x 40cm; with one side at least 25cm. On the back of the mount you must write:

Membership No. ( but NOT your name, for anonymity reasons)

The print title

The order in which the prints should be displayed (1st, 2nd, 3rd))

‘Beginner’ if entering a Beginners’ section of a competition.

A Print may be entered once in a Monthly Competition and once in an Annual Competition.

2.2 Projected Digital Images (PDIs)
Images must be submitted to the Competition Secretary in electronic format. The image must be saved in .jpg file format and sized 1400 pixels WIDE for LANDSCAPE orientation presentation or 1050 pixels HIGH for PORTRAIT orientation presentation. Your PDIs should be put on a Flash Drive Stick or CD (not re-writable) to enable the Competition Secretary to upload them on to the computer for projection. More information on preparing images as PDIs is in the MCCC document ‘How to create and re-size a PDI for MCCC in JPEG file using Adobe Photoshop ‘. A PDI may be entered once in a Monthly Competition and once in an Annual Competition.

3. PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR3.1 Awards
The ‘Photographer of the Year’ awards will be given to members who have received the highest total points in all of the:

Monthly Open Competitions

Theme Competition

In each of the above competitions, the first five places in each section will be marked 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 points (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place, respectively). In addition, the Judge may, at his discretion, commend any entry. Commended entries will be awarded one point. There will be 4 awards:

Advanced Prints

Beginners Prints

Advanced PDIs

Beginners PDIs

If there is a situation wherein these competitions there is only one / two entrants in the Beginners class, then their images will be entered into the Advanced Section. This is so they can receive marks and the benefit of a judge’s critique. Their marks will convert into points as if they had competed in the Beginners section. The winners of both the Beginners Prints and Beginners PDI in the Photographer of the Year Open Competition will automatically proceed to the Advance Section, in the next season. The second and third placed members will be given the option to move up into the Advance Section. Providing they have entered a minimum of three MCCC Photographer of the Year competitions (monthly open and/or Theme) in that season.

3.2 Monthly Open Competition
A number of Open (subject matter) competitions will be held through the season. The 3rd of these will be Open MONO only. This is to provide sufficient work for the club to enter the annual external Five Towns Mono Competition. There will be four Sections:

Advance PRINTS

Beginners PRINTS

Advance Projected Digital Images (PDIs)

Beginners Projected Digital Images (PDIs)

No entry may have been submitted in a previous monthly competition. You may enter both PRINT and PDI sections.

Prints
You may enter a maximum of THREE prints in each competition. See section 2.1, above for format and sizing information for your entries.

PDIs
You may enter a maximum of THREE PDIs in each competition. Images must be saved in .jpg file format and sized 1400 pixels WIDE for LANDSCAPE orientation presentation or 1050 pixels HIGH for PORTRAIT orientation presentation. Entries should be titled in the following format:

1st image file name is 1_title.jpg e.g. 1_Bittern at dawn.jpg

2nd image file name is 2_title.jpg e.g. 2_ Dog.jpg

3rd image file name is 3_title.jpg e.g. 3_Barn Owl.jpg

do NOT use punctuation marks in Titles e.g. , . / ? ! : ;

Place the image files in a Folder of your Name (e.g. Camila Winforth) but NOT your Membership Number. Also, include ‘Beginner’ if you are entering the Beginners’ section. Your PDIs should be put on a Flash Drive Stick or CD (not re-writable) to enable the Competition Secretary to upload them on to the computer for projection. Please make sure your name does not appear on your prints or PDI’s

3.3 Theme Competition
The subject / format will be decided at the AGM and published in the Syllabus. For non-triptych themes, Monthly Open Competition presentation rules apply. For a triptych presentation, the following rules apply:

Members will choose their own THEME(S) for this Competition. They can enter up to two themes in both the PDI and Print Sections.

They should present them as coherent panels (projected or mounted) of THREE images for each theme.

Each theme will be given its own generic title e.g. ‘Autumn Colours’.

• Prints
See section 2.1, above, for format and sizing information for your entries. The theme name must appear on the reverse of the mount, together with the print title (eg. A1_The Race, a2_- The Race, a3_ The Race). You may present the three theme images on one mount.

• PDIs
Images must be saved in .jpg file format and sized 1400 pixels WIDE for LANDSCAPE orientation presentation or 1050 pixels HIGH for PORTRAIT orientation presentation. Each of the three images (1, 2, &3) in a theme will be put together in a subfolder given the name of that theme. Each image will be titled. For example, a1_Autumn Colours.jpg, a2_ Autumn Colours.jpg, a3_ Autumn Colours.jpg. A second theme could have, for example, titles: b1_Winsford Town.jpg, b2_ Winsford Town.jpg, b3_ Winsford Town.jpg. The theme sub-folders should be put in a folder of your Name (e.g. Camila Winforth) but NOT your Membership Number. Your PDIs should be put on a Flash Drive Stick or CD (not re-writable) to enable the Competition Secretary to upload them on to the computer for projection.

You can use images which have been entered in previous Competitions but NOT in other annual Theme Competitions. More information relating to the Theme Competition is detailed in the MCCC document ‘Theme Competition Notes’

4. ANNUAL COMPETITIONS (Projected Digital Images and Prints)4.1 Format
Entries can be made to one or more sections within this competition. For sections a. to h. there will be a PDI and Print competition.
a. Open Section Advanced: is any subject matter excluding those covered by Nature, Record, Portrait, Landscape, Creative. Suggested subjects include sports, action, people, street photography, photojournalism, cultivated plants, farm animals, pets.
b. Open Section Beginners : as Open Section Advanced.
c. Nature: meaning wild animals and wild plants in their natural or controlled surroundings. Cultivated plants, house plants, farm animals, pet animals are not acceptable and should be entered in the Open section. See FIAP/PAGB definition below.
d. Record (Illustrative): technical perfection in taking the image is required here in order to show the subject in detail such that it could be copied or reconstructed from the photograph. A literal rather than an artistic portrayal of the subject is required so it should be a single image of a subject. Suggested subjects include stained glass, statue, mascot, architecture detail, ornament, mechanical detail.
e. Portrait: can be either a single Human or Animal study with an emphasis on portraying the identity and character of the individual. Group shots of people to be entered in the Open section.
f. Landscape: an overall view of an area which could be a landscape, seascape or cityscape, conveying the atmosphere of the setting.
g. Creative: the creative use of single or multiple images to produce one image that is CLEARLY an altered reality.
h. Mono: the subject is unrestricted. Images entered in this section cannot be entered in any other section of the competition. Monochrome images entered in other sections of the competition will be included in that section’s award only.
i. Beginners Small Prints: the subject is unrestricted. Images must be minimum 7’x5’ up to maximum A4. Mounted on card no bigger than 13’ x 10’ or 33cm x 26cm

Entries in Sections a. to g. inclusive and i. may be either monochrome or colour images. Beginners may also enter sections c, d, e, f, g, and h. Judging of this Competition will be by an invited independent judge.

4.2 Awards
Awards will be made for the first place in each section with ‘ Very Highly Commended’, ‘Highly Commended’ and ‘Commended’ being awarded at the Judge’s discretion.
Awards will also be made for ‘Best Overall PDI’, ‘Best Overall Print’, and ‘Best Colour Print’.

4.3 Prints
You may enter a maximum of FOUR entries in any one section (or classification), up to a maximum of 16 entries in TOTAL, over the 7 (Advanced) or 8 (Beginner) Sections a) to i). See section 2.1, above, for format and sizing information for your entries. In addition to the standard information, the Competition Section (or Classification) entered must appear on the back of the mount.

4.4 PDIs
You may enter a maximum of THREE entries in any one section (or classification), up to a maximum of 10 entries in TOTAL, over the 6 (Advanced) or 7 (Beginner) Sections. Images must be saved in .jpg file format and sized 1400 pixels WIDE for LANDSCAPE orientation presentation or 1050 pixels HIGH for PORTRAIT orientation presentation. Each entry/image file must be saved in a folder of your name (but NOT your Membership Number). This folder should be placed in a section folder with a name relating to the relevant section (or classification). Place all section folders in a main folder of your name.
e.g. Main folder / Section Folder / Name sub-folder / Images
Camila Winforth / Natural History / Camila Winforth / 1_Red Shank.jpg, 2_Long Eared Owl.jpg, 3_Bog Myrtle.jpg
Record / Camila Winforth 1_WinchesterCathedral.jpg, 2_Austin7.jpg, 3_RuncornBridge.jpg
Portrait / Camila Winforth 1-Ted.jpg, 2_Fred.jpg, 3_Doris.jpg

Your PDIs should be put on a Flash Drive Stick or CD (not re-writable) to enable the Competition Secretary to upload them on to the computer for projection.

5. KNOCK-OUT COMPETITION (Projected Digital Images only)
This Competition will be run at the end of the Season in an informal manner and will be judged by the Members present on that night.
You may enter up to 6 PDIs that have NOT been entered into ANY previous MCCC competition.
Images entered in the Knockout Competition can be entered in subsequent competitions.
Images must be saved in .jpg file format and sized 1400 pixels WIDE for LANDSCAPE orientation presentation or 1050 pixels HIGH for PORTRAIT orientation presentation.
Entries should be titled in the following format:

1st image file name is 1_title.jpg e.g. 1_Bittern at dawn.jpg

2nd image file name is 2_title.jpg e.g. 2_ Dog.jpg

3rd image file name is 3_title.jpg e.g. 3_Barn Owl.jpg etc…..

do NOT use punctuation marks in Titles e.g. , . / ? ! : ;

Place the image files in a Folder of your Name (e.g. Camila Winforth) but NOT your Membership Number. Also, include ‘Beginner’ if you are entering the Beginners’ section. Your PDIs should be put on a Flash Drive Stick or CD (not re-writable) to enable the Competition Secretary to upload them on to the computer for projection.

NEW DEFINITION OF NATURETO BE USED IN PAGB COMPETITIONSIssue 2, June 2014
FIAP have recently agreed to a coordinated definition of Nature with PSA and RPS and the PAGB, in the interest of commonality, will adopt it, for the 2014 Inter-Club Print Championship and, subject to final ratification in October, for all PAGB Competitions from January 2015, including the GB Cup Nature which opens in 2014. Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion, that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation.

The storytelling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those
human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.

No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Colour images can be converted to greyscale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed. Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided into two classes: Nature and Wildlife.

Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.

Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Landscapes, geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species. Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.

Note. The GB Cup (Nature), and the Inter-Federation (Nature) Annual Competition are the only Nature Competitions organised by the PAGB. In all other competitions, and the Awards for Photographic Merit, nature rules do not apply except where there is an individual award for Nature and the photographer has specified eligibility. Similarly, there is no Wildlife Competition but this definition will be used where a specific Wildlife Award is made.